In what is claimed to be a cruise ship sector first, two ships were connected to shore power simultaneously at Warnemünde recently.
AIDA Cruises celebrated the start of this year’s cruise season with the double call of ‘AIDAsol’ and ‘AIDAmar’ at Rostock/Warnemünde.
The company said that for the first time, two cruise ships were connected simultaneously to a shore power facility in a German port on the same day enabling the ships to reduce emissions and noise by turning-off the engines.
“We are delighted by this successful shore power premier in Rostock/Warnemünde. Thanks to the opening of further shore power facilities in European ports, we will be able to expand our commitment this year. Our goal is to be able to use shore power in all ports in the future. We therefore welcome the decisions of other ports to develop a corresponding solution.
“With our commitment to de-carbonisation, we are not only driving the energy transition in the cruise sector, we are also providing an example of how to shape local value creation in our destinations sustainably,” said Felix Eichhorn, AIDA Cruises President.
For AIDA, the use of shore power to supply energy to its cruise ships is an important contribution to reducing emissions to almost zero while ships are berthed in port. The company said that it had been considering the use of this environmentally friendly technology in the planning and construction of its ships since 2004.
It is more than 10 years ago since Europe’s first shore power plant started regular operations with an AIDA ship in Hamburg Altona (Germany).
In 2021, the first shore power facility for cruise ships in the Baltic Sea region opened with ‘AIDAsol’ in Rostock/Warnemünde during the 12th German National Maritime Conference.
With a capacity of up to 20 megavolt amperes (MVA), two cruise ships can be supplied with electricity at the same time at Warnemünde’s berths P7 and P8.
As part of its Green Cruising Strategy, AIDA Cruises has been investing in a sustainable cruising for many years. For example, the company pioneered the use of low-emission LNG for the cruise industry as an important bridging technology.
AIDA is further expanding the use of alternative energy sources, such as shore power and the usage of battery systems, to operate its cruise ships. In addition, with various partners, the company is intensively working on solutions for the usage of regenerative or synthetic fuels.
For example, in July, 2022, ‘AIDAprima’ became the first large scale cruise ship to use a blend of marine biofuel.
As part of the Carnival Corp cruise brands, AIDA Cruises aims towards achieving carbon neutral ship operation for its fleet by 2050.
Later it was revealed that the ‘AIDAsol’ had connected to shore power in nearly all ports during her recent voyage from 16th April to 21st, April, 2023.
The ship was supplied with green energy from shore in Rostock/Warnemünde, Aarhus (Denmark), Kristiansand (Norway), and Hamburg.
During her recent voyage, ‘AIDAsol’ made history by being the first cruise ship to conduct shoreside and shipboard integration tests on a newly built facility in Aarhus, Denmark. The official opening of Denmark’s first cruise ship shore power plant is scheduled for later this year.
In April last year, AIDA signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Cruise Baltic, a network of 31 ports and destinations, to use shore power in Baltic Sea ports.
“AIDA Cruises shows what can already be possible today,” said Eichhorn. “We can only achieve the energy transition together.”
